


Exhibition

by angvlicmish



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Past Friendship, artist!Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 10:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9604457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angvlicmish/pseuds/angvlicmish
Summary: Prompt: angst, human!AU, early 20s, artist!Cas, tattoos





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hollyblue2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyblue2/gifts).



“Charlie, did you really have to drag me all the way over here? Why couldn’t you just go by yourself?” Dean huffs, following Charlie into the warehouse.

“Because I did you a favour and went to that wrestling match with you so now you’re going to return it.” Charlie retorts, before heading over to the first piece of art she sees. Dean grumbles but follows along beside her.

He’s never been to an art exhibit before. But then again he’s not the type of person who would willingly go to an art exhibit. Most of the people here seem like a bunch of hippies. They’ve either got blue hair, dreadlocks or tattoos swirling down their arms. Lots of tattoos. Kind of like someone he used to know.

Dean looks back to Charlie to see she’s moved closer through the small crowd to the piece of art. Dean sighs and follows her.

***

It’s been a full hour. _An hour_. Thankfully, though, the exhibit will be finished in ten minutes so Dean can leave. Sure, the paintings are good. Very good, but Dean doesn’t understand any of them. Charlie, on the other hand has stood and stared for about five minutes at each of them.

Dean taps Charlie on the shoulder. “C’mon, Charlie. Let’s get outta here.”

Charlie doesn’t even look at him. “No. The exhibit’s not finished yet.”

“It’s gonna finish in like ten minutes though.”

Charlie finally turns and crosses her arms. “Good. You can wait ten minutes then.”

Dean groans. Half of the people who showed up have already left. But of course there still here. “But this is the last painting. I swear we’ve looked at all the others.”

“Yeah and I’ll just be another ten minutes, okay?”

“How could you possibly look at this painting for ten minutes? It’s not even that good.” 

“Is that what you thought of all the paintings I did for you as well?” says a deep voice from behind him.

Dean spins around. “No, that’s not what I - ” he starts but he loses his words when he sees who it is. 

Castiel Novak. The boy who was his best friend ever since fifth grade. 

The boy who got his first tattoo when he was sixteen just to piss off his parents.

The boy who remained friends with him even when Dean drifted away.

The boy who drew a comic strip of all the significant moments throughout their years of friendship and used it to ask him to prom. 

The boy who was rejected by Dean and fell off the face of the earth after they graduated. 

The boy he fell in love with. And maybe the boy he’s still in love with.

“Cas...”

“Hello, Dean.” Cas looks more or less the same. His hair is a mess, he’s wearing ripped jeans and a white muscle tee, which now has a few more colours splattered onto it. The only things different Dean notices are a few more tattoos on his arms and one on his neck. His eyes are also bluer than he remembered.

“How - how are you?” Dean asks. Cas just stands their with a withdrawn look on his face, his hands shoved in his pockets.

“Well, I have an art exhibit, so I guess I’m doing fine.” Cas replies.

Dean nods, an amazing idea popping into his head. “Great. That’s great. Hey, maybe we should grab a coffee sometime. You know, catch up.” Dean blurts, hope welling in his chest.

His hope plummets as soon as he sees Cas roll his eyes. “I appreciate the offer Dean but no.” Cas says, and begins to walk away.

Dean steps forward and pulls him back by the shoulder. “Wait! Hold up. Why not?”

Cas snorts. “I don’t know. Maybe because the last time we spoke to each other you completely humiliated me in front of everyone. Oh, and you broke my heart too. How about that?” And with that Cas turns and strides off. This time Dean lets him, his heart aching at the memory.

When he turns, Charlie is on him immediately. “ _Castiel Novak is the guy you’ve moping on about for the past few years?_ Holy shit, if I knew that I would’ve dragged you to one of his art exhibits over a year ago!”

Dean groans in frustration. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Charlie about him. “Wouldn’t of mattered anyway. He’s not having any of it.” 

“Oh, c’mon, Winchester. Nut up. You barely even tried.” Charlie says, punching him in the arm. 

Dean throws his arms out to the side. “Well, what am I supposed to say?”

Charlie rolls her eyes. “Tell him you’re sorry - and say it like you mean it because I know you do - and then tell him you love him.”

“I don’t lo - ” Charlie’s glare is enough to stop him short in his tracks. Dean huffs. “Whatever. I’ll try my best, okay? You happy now?”

Charlie smiles. “I am. And also either way we’re coming back tomorrow for the auction. So try not to screw things up. I’ll wait for you outside. See ya!” Charlie says before dashing off.

“Hey! Aren’t you gonna...back me up...” Dean sighs, looking over to see that Cas is talking to some of the last people still in the warehouse. The rest are heading towards the exit. 

So he waits, and awkwardly so, to the side until Cas finishes talking to the last person and they head for the door. Cas starts to take down one of the paintings when Dean walks up beside him, clearing his throat.

Cas looks up and glares. “The exhibit is over. The exit’s over that way.”

Dean runs a hand through his hair, talking a deep breath before speaking. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

Cas straightens up at that. “For what?” Cas asks, a challenging tone in his voice.

Dean swallows. “For rejecting you. For embarrassing you. For being a bad friend.”

Cas nods. “Sure. You seem real sorry about it. Just like you were the day you said it. And they day after that and the week after that and the month after - ”

“Okay, I get it!” 

Cas clenches his jaw and tilts his head in the adorable way that makes Dean’s heart lurch. “Do you? Because you know, you could of just gone with me as a friend if you ‘didn’t swing that way’. And hey, maybe all my dreams wouldn’t have come true but it would of been better than being rejected in front of half the school. That’s what a good friend would do.” Dean doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t know what to.

Suddenly Cas laughs, but it’s not the one Dean came to love. It’s short and insincere. “But I guess we weren’t really still friends by that point, right?”

Dean looks at the floor, not meeting Cas’ pained eyes. He guesses not. Not after Dean drifted away from him.

“Look, I know you don’t believe me but I’m sorry, okay? I really am. And I know I didn’t say it back then but I’m here now, aren’t I? I’m doing the best I can.”

Cas just shakes his head. “It’s been four years, Dean. It’s a little too late for that. Just leave.”

Dean rubs a hand over his face. “Well, then why’d you come over to me in the first place? You could’ve just avoided me, you know.”

Cas seems a bit taken aback by that. He opens his mouth a few times before he speaks. “I was just being polite. Now piss off.” Cas says, grabbing one of the paintings and beginning to walk away.

“No, you weren’t. Why would you be so polite if you hate me so much, huh? You wouldn’t ever want to see me again after what I did to you. Did you want me to apologise? Because I just di - ”

Cas spins around, one arm thrown out wide. “Because I still love you!” 

Dean parts his mouth slightly, speechless. He knows that Cas once did, all those years ago but he never thought that Cas could’ve continued to harbour feelings for him after everything that he did. 

Cas’ eyes are teary when he continues. “Okay? I still love you but it doesn’t matter because you’ll never love me back.” Dean stands frozen as Cas turns and continues to walk away. 

Cas disappears through a door at the back and Dean watches him go, the thought of ‘that’s not true’ running through his head the entire time. Dean takes a deep breath and runs after him. When he enters through the door, he finds himself looking at a smaller room in the warehouse where unfinished paintings are still sitting on their stands and finished ones are hanging up on the walls. There’s paint and utensils everywhere, spread across the entire room.

Dean turns his head to see Cas standing by a desk, putting the painting in hand away. Dean looks up to see the painting hanging above his desk and his heart aches.

It’s the comic strip. The one Cas painted for him to ask him to prom. His eyes skim through the strip, looking at the moments from when they first met to when they went looking for fireflies. From when Cas stayed with Dean all night at the hospital when Dean’s mum was sick to when Dean came with Cas when he got his first tattoo. And then all the way at the end where Cas is asking Dean to prom.

But then there’s a big crease in the paper and three mores strips after that one, ones that Dean has never seen before. One is Dean running towards Cas. Dean kissing Cas. And Dean saying ‘yes’.

“Apparently I was stupidly optimistic as a teenager.” Dean looks towards Cas to see him with his hands in his pockets and his eyes trained on the ground. A small blush dusts Cas’ cheeks. “You would do all that and then I would show you the rest and we’d laugh and it would be the most romantic sappy bullshit ever. At least that’s what I thought would happen.”

Dean’s heart is nearly beating out of his chest but this could be his last chance. So he strides over to Cas, puts his hands on either side of his face and smashes their lips together.

Cas’ lips part in surprise but he only takes a moment before he’s kissing Dean back. His lips are soft and warm and everything he’s ever wanted them to be. and more. He doesn’t know how he went so long without this.

Suddenly, their are hands on his chest and Cas is pushing away but Dean doesn’t let go of his face and holds him as close as he can.

“What are you doing?” Cas asks, and he’s not yelling like Dean thought he would. His voice is soft and trembling slightly. He seems so unsure.

“Yes.” Dean says, something he should’ve said all those years ago.

“Yes, what? What are you - ”

“You said I’d never love you back but yes, I do. I do love you back.” And somehow the words don’t seem so hard to say. Not when their true.

Dozens of emotions flash through Cas’ eyes and finally he just looks down to the floor. “No, you don’t.” It almost seems like he’s saying it to himself. Like it’s not possible for Dean to love him back.

Dean strokes his thumbs up and down Cas’ cheeks, making him lift his head slightly, those beautiful blues peeking out under long lashes.

“C’mon, Cas.” he says, softly. “People change but they don’t change that much. And you knew me, you did. And if you knew me then, then you would know that I’ve never said that to anyone outside of my family. Believe me, now?”

Cas huffs out a laugh and his lips twitch up in a smile that’s beautiful and vulnerable at the same time. “God, I hate you so much.” he mutters, his hands on Dean’s chest curling into the fabric.

“I’m sorry.” Dean says again, and he says it like he means it, because he does.

“I never stopped thinking of you. I mean, how could I when you haunt my dreams?”

"You haunt mine too, you know.” Cas smiles, this time bigger and something wells up inside Dean’s chest.

“You won’t reject me again, will you?” Cas asks, the pain flashing in his eyes again.

Dean shakes his head. “Never again.”

Cas flicks his eyes down for a brief moment before looking back up to meet Dean’s eyes. “You have so much to make up for.” And he’s right. He does. Because this doesn’t mean he’s forgiven. This doesn’t mean that everything he ever did to Cas is somehow forgotten. But it does mean he has a chance to make it right.

“I know and I will, I promise."

“So, you’ll hold my hand in public?” Cas’ voice is timid and it makes Dean smile. Who would’ve thought the hardcore artist with tattoos who rebelled against his parents and his entire school just wants someone to hold his hand.

“I will. I’ll hold your hand in public and I’ll take you out on sappy romantic dates and I’ll even do some naked modelling for you if I have to.” Cas laughs at that, his eyes crinkling at the sides and it makes Dean realise how much he’s missed this. “Would you like that?” he asks, his voice soft and hopeful.

Cas eyes shine brighter than he’s ever seen. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Charlie grins when Dean comes out five minutes later with a dopey smile on his face and a scrap of paper in his hands. Yeah, they’re definitely coming back tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr](http://angvlicmish.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> Hey guys! If you haven't checked out the fic I'm working on at the moment please do! It's already 23k and I'm updating the next chapter in a few days! It's called [Your Enemies Closer](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9164155/chapters/20807458)!


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